Did Idaho’s wolf population decline in 2021? Here’s what Fish and Game estimate says

Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials estimate the state’s wolf population has remained stable for another year, according to a presentation before the Fish and Game Commission on Thursday.

Fish and Game wildlife research manager Shane Roberts told the commission that game camera estimates put the state’s wolf population at 1,543 individuals as of August 2021. The estimates are based on images captured in July and August.

The 2021 estimate is in line with estimates from the last two years, when the agency first implemented its camera-based estimation system. The agency estimated there were 1,556 wolves in the state in 2020 and 1,566 the previous year.

Idaho must maintain a wolf population of about 150 individuals for Fish and Game to retain authority over wolf management. If the population dips too low, wolves could be returned to Endangered Species Act protection, and their management would return to the federal government.

Federal officials are already weighing whether to re-list wolves. The review was prompted by environmental groups who objected to laws in Idaho and Montana that they say threaten wolf populations. Last year, the Idaho Legislature passed a law that removed bag limits on wolf hunting and trapping, expanded trapping seasons on private land and gave the state’s Wolf Depredation Control Board authority to hire private contractors to kill wolves.

Fish and Game Director Ed Schriever noted during the meeting Thursday that the estimate likely wasn’t impacted by the controversial law, which went into effect in July of last year.

Officials said documented wolf mortality since July 2021 is on par with previous years. Between July and December of last year, the agency confirmed 300 wolf deaths. The deaths were a combination of natural deaths, hunting, trapping and Fish and Game management, according to a news release.

“It is not the decimation of Idaho’s wolf population,” Schriever said. “It is not the removal of 90% of the wolves in Idaho. The human-caused mortality so far in this year is similar to human-caused mortality in previous years.”

On average, Fish and Game has confirmed 436 wolf deaths per year over the last five years.

Schriever also took time Thursday to condemn Idaho environmental groups that have questioned Fish and Game’s trail camera population estimate methodology. Ahead of Roberts’ presentation, Schriever read portions of statements he attributed to Western Watersheds Project and Suzanne Stone, director of the International Wildlife Coexistence network. The statements called Fish and Game’s practices into question and called on the agency to be transparent about its methods.

“In controversial topics, too frequently and too often, people just choose to take easy unsubstantiated potshots at the science, and it’s just not fair,” Schriever said.

Both groups Schriever mentioned are parties to a lawsuit filed last month asking the Idaho district court to pause wolf trapping in grizzly bear and Canada lynx habitats until the agency can ensure the other species — both of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act — won’t be harmed by wolf trapping. Schriever is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.